Rage Against The Data Center
On Monday, citizens shouted “shame” at Box Elder County Commissioners before they voted to approve a massive data center project.
A relatively short note today.
It’s short because the videos below are powerful examples of the raging backlash against Big Tech, an issue I began writing about last December, in “The Data Center Backlash Is Global.”
Since then, the opposition to Big Tech, AI, and data centers has grown faster than I ever imagined. I have been covering land-use conflicts over alt-energy projects for 16 years. In that time, I’ve interviewed dozens of people all over the world about their opposition to solar, wind, and battery projects. I’ve documented hundreds of examples of rejections or restrictions on alt-energy projects in the Renewable Rejection Database.
But the rage against data centers is different.
Over the past seven months, it’s become apparent that people all across the US are pissed off. They don’t like the super-rich tech oligarchs, they don’t trust Big Tech, and they are ready and willing to fight to stop AI data centers from coming into their cities, towns, and rural areas.
Broad coalitions of people from Indianapolis to Independence, Missouri, have organized to stop data center projects, and, as I noted a few weeks ago in “AI Rejected: Tracking The Great Data Center Revolt,” there have already been more than 70 rejections or restrictions in the first four months of 2026. That’s more than occurred in all of 2025. And remember, the rejection numbers for 2026 don’t include projects canceled or withdrawn due to local opposition. For instance, last month, Compass Datacenters withdrew plans for an 800-acre project in Prince William County, Virginia, after facing “intense pushback from local residents.”
Why is this happening? Here’s what I wrote on April 11:
The backlash against data centers looks a lot like the fights against Big Wind, Big Solar, and Big Battery. People are concerned about their neighborhoods, property values, viewsheds, and noise. But the opposition to data centers also includes two other hot-button issues: soaring electricity prices and water availability... Now add in distrust — or even outright hatred of Big Tech — and add in fears about AI destroying jobs, and you get a dream issue set for activists across the political spectrum. In short, this is a broad cultural backlash that cuts across political and demographic lines. (Emphasis added.)
Nothing has changed since then to change my mind. Indeed, the anger toward Big Tech and opposition to data centers are part of an unprecedented cultural backlash. Local people are looking at these big projects and asking a simple question: “What’s in it for us?” And in many cases, they are finding that the local benefits aren’t enough.
Of course, there have been claims that outsiders are funding the opposition to data centers. Last month, one conservative group claimed that foreign money is funding the anti-data center movement and that it is “classic political warfare for the detriment of our sovereignty and ultimately our way of life.” A few days ago, another group, Power The Future, sent a letter to two members of Congress requesting “a formal investigation into a coordinated, billionaire-funded and potentially foreign-backed political campaign designed to block the construction of data center and AI infrastructure.”
Those claims are bogus.
Don’t take my word for it. Watch the two videos below from the Salt Lake Tribune, which show the huge crowd of people that gathered at the Box Elder County Fairgrounds on Monday to oppose the Stratos data center project being pushed by Kevin O’Leary, the irascible star of “Shark Tank.”
They were there to attend the Box Elder County Commission’s hearing on the project, which aims to build up to 9 gigawatts of data center capacity on a 40,000-acre tract north of the Great Salt Lake. If the project does get built with 9 GW of capacity, it could consume more than twice as much juice as what’s now used by the entire state of Utah. The Tribune estimated that more than 600 people were inside the gymnasium-sized exhibit hall and another 300 protesters gathered outside, where many chanted “no data center” and “we want water.”
The meeting was standing-room-only. Every chair was taken. The overwhelming majority who attended were opposed to O’Leary’s project. From the outset, the three commissioners were showered with jeers and catcalls by the project’s opponents. At the three-minute mark, one of the commissioners warned the crowd that if they continued to disrupt the meeting, they would be escorted out of the building by security. (The full video of the hearing is available here.) After about 28 minutes, a large number of people began chanting, “People over profits.” At that point, the three commission members stopped the hearing and moved into an adjacent room where they continued the meeting on Zoom. After they left the stage, dozens chanted, “shame, shame, shame.”
The commissioners went on to approve the Stratos deal by a unanimous vote. While O’Leary’s project may move forward, the proposed campus has zero tenants. And given the controversy over the project, the fact that none of the infrastructure has been built — and the fierce competition already underway across the data center industry for tenants — it will be difficult for “Mr. Wonderful” to make the Stratos project work. For proof of that, look no further than Fermi Inc.
Here are the videos:
And while you are watching those, be sure to look at my latest mini-documentary, “The Data Center Backlash,” which I published here on Substack last month.
Thanks.
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Since I published this piece, people I know and respect have been pointing out the similarities between the opposition to DCs and the opposition to hydraulic fracturing.
Yes, there are some some similar themes. And yes, some of the NGOs like Sierra Club are involved in some of the anti-DC efforts. But by and large, the e-NGOs trying to jump in front of the parade and act like they are leading.
As I reported a few weeks ago, a March Quinnipiac poll found that 65% of Americans oppose DCs in their communities. The staunchest opposition was among Democratic voters, with 78% opposed, while 66% of Independents and 56% of Republicans were opposed. Among those who oppose data centers, 72% cited electricity costs, 64% were concerned about water usage, and 41% cited noise. In addition, the same Quinnipiac poll found 70% believe AI will lead to fewer job opportunities, and 55% believe AI will “do more harm than good” in their day-to-day lives.
Those are stout numbers and they support my belief that the opposition to DCs is part of a broad cultural backlash against Big Tech.
People are finally sick and tired of watching farms and forest disappear while having their homes surrounded by solar farms, wind farms, Chinese battery plants, truck terminals, train terminals, transportation centers, and blocks-long white warehouses that employ almost no one. And now we have these electricity sucking monster data centers coming. I guess We the People are all sick and tired of being told to "shove it" while living our lives surrounded by sheer ugliness everywhere one looks.